I've often thought about the spiritual and philosophical implications to half of the One Power being tainted. Given what we've seen in the Ways, it stands to reason that the taint did more than simply inflict madness upon male channelers and cause the Breaking of the World. It corrupted things spun of saidin. Things like the Ways.

Saidin propels the Wheel of Time and the Wheel spins the Pattern. Therefore it is not unreasonable to ask whether the Pattern itself might have been corrupted by the taint's presence. The weave altered by the fact that a new force was in play.

In other words, I often wonder if the last 3000 years of Randland history were actually an aberration in the Pattern's design, still influenced by the Wheel but not part of the original script. One thing that has always stood out to me is Shadar Logoth.

RJ's explanation of that city never made much sense to me. People did despicable things in the name of thwarting the shadow and the evil of their deeds took on a life of its own... Except people do despicable things in the name of good all the time. (The Spanish Inquisition comes to mind). Even in Randland, we see the Whitecloaks torture and maim people in the name of serving the Light and yet no evil mist comes to life. Amador is not a dead city of ghosts.

My theory is that Shadar Logoth would not have been possible in a world where saidin (and saidar) have not been tainted. People will still do evil things – torture, maim, rape, etc – but the what allowed Shadar Logoth to become what it became was a fundamental corruption of reality itself, a corruption caused by the fact that half of the True Source was tainted.

Now, don't mistake me. I know that RJ said that Shadar Logoth was human caused. And I'm not saying that it wasn't.

My point is that the conditions that would allow a place like Shadar Logoth to exist (that would allow the evil in men's hearts to take solid form) only came about because reality itself had been fundamentally corrupted.

fionwe1987

06-06-2012, 07:20 PM

There is a quote (which I will have to find), where Brandon implies that Mordeth's powers have a special source (I can't remember, but the Finn were mentioned, possibly). The implication was that Mordeth was misusing some other form of power not sourced from the DO, but a regular part of Creation. Whether its something from another age or another world, or both, I can't exactly remember.

Which makes me realize this is a pointless post, except to say that Fain isn't a result of the taint. And since RJ said he's a wildcard, yet we can expect saidin or saidar to have been tainted in previous ages, I think we can rule out the taint playing any role in Shadar Logoth, quite apart from the horrific result of the interaction of the taint and SL evil.

Seeker

06-06-2012, 08:21 PM

But no mention of what this power is?

I still think the taint had larger effects however. In fact, I'm willing to bet that this is the only turning when the Source was tainted.

The Unreasoner

06-06-2012, 08:58 PM

If the taint did drive the weaving off-course, it is certainly a likely candidate for the force that drove Mordeth to misuse Power.

Whether or not there have been Taints before, or Shadar Logoths (or even Fains); it would be ridiculous to say that the Taint had no role in creating Mordeth. The Taint was a root cause for the distrust and power-vacuum that defined the Third Age, and Mordeth was a product of that.

More interesting (to me) is the inherent balance. Saidin is tainted, which leads to a world that produced Mordeth, which leads to SL and Mashadar, which can destroy the Taint. Equal and opposite reaction.

Seeker

06-06-2012, 09:08 PM

If the taint did drive the weaving off-course, it is certainly a likely candidate for the force that drove Mordeth to misuse Power.

Whether or not there have been Taints before, or Shadar Logoths (or even Fains); it would be ridiculous to say that the Taint had no role in creating Mordeth. The Taint was a root cause for the distrust and power-vacuum that defined the Third Age, and Mordeth was a product of that.

More interesting (to me) is the inherent balance. Saidin is tainted, which leads to a world that produced Mordeth, which leads to SL and Mashadar, which can destroy the Taint. Equal and opposite reaction.

Yes, yes, yes. You found the words I was looking for.

Cortar

06-06-2012, 09:26 PM

Didn't Jordan already say there was "nothing special" about this turning? Wouldn't that imply that taint isn't an unique event?

Seeker

06-06-2012, 10:07 PM

Didn't Jordan already say there was "nothing special" about this turning? Wouldn't that imply that taint isn't an unique event?

No.

Even if those were Jordan's exact words, "There is nothing special about this Turning," it wouldn't mean that the taint was commonplace.

Special could mean anything.

For instance, it could mean "there is nothing about this cycle that couldn't have happened in any other cycle." That doesn't mean that the major events of this cycle DID happen in previous cycles, merely that they could have happened.

The Unreasoner

06-06-2012, 10:54 PM

Didn't Jordan already say there was "nothing special" about this turning? Wouldn't that imply that taint isn't an unique event?
I don't have the exact wording in front of me, but I am nearly certain that the accepted interpretation is something along the lines of 'this Age wasn't preordained to be unique', or something like that. Certainly it is hard to reconcile 'Fain is new' with 'this Age is not special'.

The Unreasoner

06-06-2012, 10:55 PM

Yes, yes, yes. You found the words I was looking for.
Happy to help

Great Lord of the Dark

06-06-2012, 11:26 PM

I think the Pattern purposely created Shadar Logoth. It is required sacrifice to defeat the Dark One. It is like a city of Whitecloaks, or Malkieri, taking their vows to oppose the Dark One to an extreme and unsustainable point of view. Mashadar is random, and does not seek out Shadowspawn, so is not the same evil as that which inhabits Mordeth.

I wonder if the people of Aridhol gave their lives so Mordeth could live forever, opposing the Shadow. Might explain their disappearance, his powers and longevity.

Ok. You mentioned that Mordeth was a man that had "power". You are reported as saying that his power was that "which he got by seeking out all of the evil things that weren’t related to the Shadow"...
Brandon Sanderson

He was seeking things that were related to the Shadow. I think that that might be a misquote. He was looking into the power of the Shadow in order to defeat it, was his goal. He was looking into everything. He was looking into things that were not necessarily related to the Dark One as well. He was looking for everything that he could get...
Matt Hatch

..previous to him arriving to Aridhol?
Brandon Sanderson

...Yeah...
Matt Hatch

...before he went to the King and became the counselor, Mordeth was this guy that went around searching for Power?
Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, he wanted to defeat the Dark One and he felt that he could find other ways to do it [...] He originally was good. He did not...he wasn’t this terrible person to begin with but he was looking to defeat the Dark One, to find a way to defeat the Shadow. And he looked into a lot of things he shouldn’t have looked into. There are evils that are not necessarily directly related to the Dark One, though everything evil kind of has...just as there are goods that are not related necessarily to the One Power...we are talking much as Perrin runs with wolves. This is a thing older than...there are other evils things that are old in a similar way...
Matt Hatch

...is the assumption then that he found one of these?
Brandon Sanderson

He did.
Matt Hatch

He found one or multiple?
Brandon Sanderson

He found many things of darkness. There is one in specific that is driving him but he knew too much. He found things he should not have gotten into and that is what turned him into...when he got there he was already corrupt. He still thought he was doing a good work. He still thought we are going to raise this Kingdom up and it is going to become this bastion against the Shadow, but he was already by then corrupted.
Matt Hatch

Is this same corrupting influence what corrupts everyone through the dagger itself?
Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Through him, yes. And even through his presence.
MATT HATCH

[Hah—Maybe I should have asked if Mordeth was under the influence of the Finns...or at the very least if they were one of the powers he found in his quest... ]

Has the Padan Fain/Mordeth character been present in previous Ages, or is he unique to this particular Age?
Robert Jordan

He is unique to this particular Age. A very unique fellow, indeed. In some ways, you might say he has unwittingly side-stepped the Pattern.

All those add up to Fain not being a result of the taint, or in some way a derivative of the taint. His power is something ancient, like Wolfbrothers are.

Seeker

06-07-2012, 12:29 AM

All those add up to Fain not being a result of the taint, or in some way a derivative of the taint. His power is something ancient, like Wolfbrothers are.

Yes, and that's very interesting but not what we're saying. (The Unreasoner and myself). I'm not saying that the Taint created Fain/Mordeth or that he gets his power from the taint.

I'm saying that taint altered the way the Wheel weaves the Pattern and that in a world where there had been no taint, Mordeth would not have been able to find whatever it is he found to make his power.

fionwe1987

06-07-2012, 12:38 AM

Yes, and that's very interesting but not what we're saying. (The Unreasoner and myself). I'm not saying that the Taint created Fain/Mordeth or that he gets his power from the taint.

I'm saying that taint altered the way the Wheel weaves the Pattern and that in a world where there had been no taint, Mordeth would not have been able to find whatever it is he found to make his power.
That doesn't add up. Unreasoner made the point that the taint changed the course of history, which resulted in Mordeth doing what he did. Debatable as that is, its entirely different from saying the taint did something that allowed Fain to access his dark Powers. Sanderson's statements make it clear the evil powers Mordeth researched existed before the taint. I fail to see why access to them should be governed by the taint's presence. There's no evidence for that, is there?

Seeker

06-07-2012, 12:59 AM

That doesn't add up. Unreasoner made the point that the taint changed the course of history, which resulted in Mordeth doing what he did. Debatable as that is, its entirely different from saying the taint did something that allowed Fain to access his dark Powers. Sanderson's statements make it clear the evil powers Mordeth researched existed before the taint. I fail to see why access to them should be governed by the taint's presence. There's no evidence for that, is there?

Well, I'm not sure what Sanderson is talking about as there is no mention of these "ancient dark powers" in the book.

But let me try to explain my original point. The taint didn't just change the course of history - which it did - but also the metaphysical nature of the universe. For one thing, it created a fundamental imbalance between the two halves of the One Power. For two, it corrupted anything made of saidin. In fact, if the taint hadn't been cleansed, I'd have questioned if Damer's healing had long-term side-effects.

Saidin pushes the Wheel of Time

The Wheel weaves the Pattern.

The Pattern determines the nature of reality, not just the events of history but the rules and laws that govern the physical (and possibly spiritual) world. We've seen that when the Pattern tampered with, the result is a breakdown in those laws. Things like Ghosts... Hallways rearranging themselves, the world nearly fading away to mist. Town's sinking into the Earth and so on and so on and so on.

So, if saidin is half of the fuel that pushes the wheel of Time. And saidin is corrupted. That very corruption is in direct contact with the Wheel of Time, seeping into the Wheel, altering the way in which the Wheel spins out the Pattern.

The result is not just a change in the events that were supposed to take place but in the very laws that govern the physical world. Things that should not have been possible under normal circumstances were possible because of that corruption.

Things like Mashadar.

Even though the Evil of Shadar Logoth was created by humans, humans should not have been able to create that evil. The laws of the universe should not have allowed for it.

But if those laws were corrupted... weakened (thus allowing an increase in chaos) then reality itself becomes less fixed, less stable. And that allows for the Evil in men's hearts to take form and kill a city.

In any other Age, Shadar Logoth would not be possible. Only in an Age where the Source is tainted can a place like that exist.

The Unreasoner

06-07-2012, 01:30 AM

All those add up to Fain not being a result of the taint, or in some way a derivative of the taint. His power is something ancient, like Wolfbrothers are.
You need to stop talking about Fain and Mordeth like they're the same. Mordeth's powers come primarily from some ancient source. Fain's are more complex, and come from many sources (including the DO).
I'm saying that taint altered the way the Wheel weaves the Pattern and that in a world where there had been no taint, Mordeth would not have been able to find whatever it is he found to make his power.
I don't know if I'd go that far. Maybe he would have been able to find it, but simply wouldn't have bothered (for whatever reason. People were simply more ethical before the Bore. Maybe the Taint promoted suspicion in a more direct way than I previously hypothesized). And while I like the idea that the Taint could somehow corrupt the Weaving on a metaphysical level, I'm not 100% sold. We have cases like the Ways where the Taint affects the finished product, and cases of Asha'man and Rand channeling without any (noticeable) effects on the targets.
Sanderson's statements make it clear the evil powers Mordeth researched existed before the taint.
That's not what he said. He used the Wolfbrotherness/Power analogy to comment on the nature and source of Mordeth's power, not a way to fix the relative times they came about. It may be that Mordeth's power source predated the Taint, but that is obviously not what BS is saying here.
Even though the Evil of Shadar Logoth was created by humans, humans should not have been able to create that evil. The laws of the universe should not have allowed for it.

But if those laws were corrupted... weakened (thus allowing an increase in chaos) then reality itself becomes less fixed, less stable. And that allows for the Evil in men's hearts to take form and kill a city.

In any other Age, Shadar Logoth would not be possible. Only in an Age where the Source is tainted can a place like that exist.
I agree with most of these conclusions, if not necessarily the reasoning. First, I would think factors other than Tainting might enable a SL (for instance, the unsealed Bore). But almost certainly something with that level of metaphysical weight.

As for your reasoning: I think the problem is 'unsolvable' as to how exactly the cause goes to the effect. Is the Weaving directly corrupted due to the Taint? Or do the living agents, the threads, drive it off course with their actions and response to the Taint?

fionwe1987

06-07-2012, 07:58 AM

Well, I'm not sure what Sanderson is talking about as there is no mention of these "ancient dark powers" in the book.
Well, no. But unless you think he's lying, I don't see why you won't take him at his word.

And it makes sense. There are ancient powers connected to the Light, from Wolfbrothers, to Sniffers to Min-type powers, to the ability to make Portal Stones and the Horn of Valere. Why not Dark counterparts from those times as well?
Things that should not have been possible under normal circumstances were possible because of that corruption.

Things like Mashadar.

Even though the Evil of Shadar Logoth was created by humans, humans should not have been able to create that evil. The laws of the universe should not have allowed for it.
Yeah this is where you lose me. See, the problem with this idea is that it totally ignores that Brandon said:

This is a thing older than...there are other evils things that are old in a similar way...

Now, you believe the taint somehow changed the weave of the Patter so that ancient powers not available normally suddenly did become available, thus altering time, which even the DO cannot do, according to him. These powers existed before the taint. And we have no evidence the taint allowed special access to them. So I don't see why we should believe that it did.

In any other Age, Shadar Logoth would not be possible. Only in an Age where the Source is tainted can a place like that exist.
This assumes that the tainting of the source is unique. What in the text even remotely supports that?

Grig

06-07-2012, 10:48 AM

Mashadar is random, and does not seek out Shadowspawn, so is not the same evil as that which inhabits Mordeth.

It actually did seek out Shadowspawn that were close enough for it to "sense", in a wholly different way than it did the humans that got close. You might find it interesting to reread that part of TEotW.

Oden

06-07-2012, 11:14 AM

I have always pictured the Taint as one of the main themes of the third Age. Without the tainted male half, no White Tower of females. No WT leads to no militant CotL of all males who are openly semi-misogynists.
No tainted male half, no mad men. No mad men, no breaking. No breaking, no black veiled Aiel nor Tuath'an. (No black veiled Aiel, no Maidens, no "born of a maiden".)
No mad men, no constant and frightening* reminder of the DO and the DR.
The list can be made really long.

But there are some things that are not affected by the taint. Shadowspawn and other creatures of the DO would still exist. The problems deriving from that is about the same as what the world has experienced anyway. Trolloc raids, Trolloc wars and Ba'alzamon steering the DFs with the TP. The rise of Hawkwing's empire would have happened in another fashion since false Dragons probably wouldn't have been so 'normal' since male channellers would have been present.

The Trolloc wars would have happened and Mordeth would searched for a way to defeat the shadow.

*Constant and frightening because as it is, the whole world know of the DR and the existance of the KC but most southerners doesn't believe in Shadowspawn.

Off topic: 1)I sometimes wonder how smart fionwe really is. There are huge logical leaps in the posts, which some people are annoyed of, and then there is a demand for evidence of the counterpart's thesis. When analysing fionwe's standpoint, I start to see that there is support for almost all of the logical leaps. Fionwe just doesn't write it down, as if everyone should know it already.
2)Do you watch The Daily Show too, Unreasoner?

Seeker

06-07-2012, 03:15 PM

I have always pictured the Taint as one of the main themes of the third Age. Without the tainted male half, no White Tower of females. No WT leads to no militant CotL of all males who are openly semi-misogynists.
No tainted male half, no mad men. No mad men, no breaking. No breaking, no black veiled Aiel nor Tuath'an. (No black veiled Aiel, no Maidens, no "born of a maiden".)
No mad men, no constant and frightening* reminder of the DO and the DR.
The list can be made really long.

Yes, and none of those things were SUPPOSED to happen. I believe this Age to be an aberration, a disruption in the Wheel's design. The Wheel cannot incorporate the taint into its design because it cannot create the taint. Not can it rely on the Dark One to behave in the same way each time around. Suppose next time He does something different and the result is something that doesn't leave the Source tainted. Or that creates some new problem for society to deal with. An environmental disaster, say. A world where the land is poisoned but the Source remains pure.

Anything to do with the Dark One is completely outside of the Wheel's control; therefore, we must conclude that anything CAUSED by the Dark One was not part of the Wheel's plan.

Zombie Sammael

06-07-2012, 03:50 PM

"There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow, for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love."

- From a much-disputed translation of The Prophecies of the Dragon by the poet Kyera Termendal, of Shiota, believed to have been published between FY 700 and FY 800.

(emphasis mine)

I think Seeker might be on to something. We've discussed in the past what "Land" might actually mean; whether it refers specifically to the Wetlands and Waste, or whether it refers to something more general. It's pretty obvious to everyone that the Blight/Bore are symbolised on Rand's body by his never-healing wound inflicted by Ishamael, but what we don't often consider is the idea that it is also symbolised (or was symbolised) by the taint. That's because we tend not to think of "land" as meaning the entire cosmic structure of the WOT world, and thus of Rand being one with it. When you think about it, however, it's obvious that the taint and the wound are linked:

The wound given him by Ishamael throbbed in time with the taint, while the other, from Fain's blade, beat counterpoint in time with the evil that had killed Aridhol.

I think this is the most explicit example we have of the two being linked, and here we have a mention that the part of the wound that's linked to SL, the dagger-inflicted injury, is also beating in counterpoint rhythm.

We can make some assertions as a result of this: First, the Dragon is one with the Land (there is a wealth of evidence for this); the Dragon is wounded; the Land is also wounded; the two wounds reflect each other; one part of the wound is inflicted by the Shadow; the other part if inflicted by Shadar Logoth; therefore, the Land is also wounded by Shadar Logoth; the "Shadow" part of the wound is linked to the taint (see above); therefore, the SL part must also be linked in some way to Saidin.

We also know certain things about how the Collapse happened shortly before the War of the Power began in earnest back in the AOL; it began with a gradual increase in bloodthirstiness and mistrust among the populace, just as Aridhol was drawn into its own kind of darkness by hatred and suspicion. The two things seem to work in the same way.

If you take Rand's oneness with the Land to mean all existence on a metaphysical, cosmic level, then it's pretty clear that Shadar Logoth is also a taint upon reality. Ironically it seems as if the other wound to Rand's side prevented his death in ACOS. How does this square with the idea that it couldn't have happened without the prior injury? It's certainly not the case that what Ishamael did in TGH can be said to be in any way causative of what Fain did in ACOS. But it is true that the Dragon is one with the Land; it stands to reason that if he dies (before the prophesied time?), then the Land itself is in jeopardy; the dagger of Shadar Logoth normally kills fairly instantly, and it took the intervention of the One Power and the other wound fighting against it to prevent that. Padan Fain Mordeth does not need Rand al'Thor alive - in fact he wants him dead - but the Dark One certainly seemed to for a while, for whatever reason. It was necessary for Rand to be wounded by Ishamael; he himself believes that wound is the one that will lead to his death at the appropriate time, but also because it, coupled with the Power, kept him alive when wounded by Fain. This is actually very similar, if inverse, to the way the Taint behaved in WH, and Rand says he was inspired by this.

So the idea that reality itself was corrupted by the Taint doesn't seem to be as huge a leap as it seems to be. The idea that it also created or allowed its own means of destruction seems to have precedent, based on what's going on with Rand's wound. This doesn't necessarily mean that what remains of SL is the key to defeating the DO as many believe, but it does suggest that all evil, ultimately, does have its root in the Dark One after all.

The Unreasoner

06-07-2012, 04:07 PM

2)Do you watch The Daily Show too, Unreasoner?
Sure do. I wondered who would be the first to notice that.

On the topic at hand, I am still largely in agreement with ZS and Seeker, but I am incredibly hesitant to call the Tainting a unique event.

Perhaps it is my Leibniz worship (the best of all possible worlds, the Taint must serve some purpose), perhaps it is my interpretation of RJ's thoughts on the Greeks and linear time, and how an eternal struggle might be the only thing that can give life in circular time meaning. But I don't follow the idea that the Taint is unique.

Zombie Sammael

06-07-2012, 04:12 PM

Sure do. I wondered who would be the first to notice that.

On the topic at hand, I am still largely in agreement with ZS and Seeker, but I am incredibly hesitant to call the Tainting a unique event.

Perhaps it is my Leibniz worship (the best of all possible worlds, the Taint must serve some purpose), perhaps it is my interpretation of RJ's thoughts on the Greeks and linear time, and how an eternal struggle might be the only thing that can give life in circular time meaning. But I don't follow the idea that the Taint is unique.

I would say there are some parts of Seeker's thoughts I agree with and others I do not. The idea that it's a unique event is one of those that I don't agree with, though I can see how it could be a different kind of corruption (Saidar might end up tainted, or both halves, or the Ogier, etc). It is certainly a corruption, but the Wheel has demonstrated a deft ability to incorporate corruption into its designs.

GonzoTheGreat

06-08-2012, 04:40 AM

Well, I'm not sure what Sanderson is talking about as there is no mention of these "ancient dark powers" in the book.
All right, now you're got me curious. What "ancient dark power" was Aginor talking about, if it was not something that is mentioned anywhere in the book, and is not related in any way to what Mordeth found?
"He guided us." The hand that pointed to Mat was old and shriveled to scarcely human, lacking a fingernail and with knuckles gnarled like knots in a piece of rope. Mat took a step back, eyes widening. "An old thing, an old friend, an old enemy. But he is not the one we seek," the green-cloaked man finished. The other man stood as if he would never speak.
I wonder how you plan to explain this one away.

fionwe1987

06-08-2012, 09:43 AM

I wonder how you plan to explain this one away.

:D Nice find.

Zombie Sammael

06-08-2012, 09:53 AM

Even more interestingly, that suggests that whatever the Mordeth-power is was around in the AOL. So what was it?

Tomp

06-08-2012, 10:02 AM

Even more interestingly, that suggests that whatever the Mordeth-power is was around in the AOL. So what was it?

Either that
or the dagger is older than SL and has a power of its own
or he's talking about Mat. He might be an old friend and an old enemy from AOL (reincarnated).

The Unreasoner

06-08-2012, 11:08 AM

:D Nice find.
I did wonder why you used three big quotes from BS where one from Aginor would do.
Even more interestingly, that suggests that whatever the Mordeth-power is was around in the AOL. So what was it?
Interestingly? If you want to call it that. I'm not sure that anyone other than fionwe and Seeker were that hung up on the timing of the thing. Seeker because he thinks the Tainting was unique, and fionwe because he's fionwe.
Either that
or the dagger is older than SL and has a power of its own
Why not both? iow, maybe the dagger is the source of the power. Or the ruby on its own? Mat had difficulty remembering the dagger, but the ruby was clear. And hey, if the ruby is the crystallized remains of some ancient world that tore itself apart with Masadar and suspicion, we have an incredibly bizarre potential source for the krypttonite component of the Superman myth.

Just to throw a bone to Seeker's position, it may be that this 'dark power' only goes so far as to produce Mashadar in Ages where the Source is tainted. Or to put it another way: in Ages where there is Need for it.

Seeker

06-08-2012, 12:48 PM

All right, now you're got me curious. What "ancient dark power" was Aginor talking about, if it was not something that is mentioned anywhere in the book, and is not related in any way to what Mordeth found?

I wonder how you plan to explain this one away.

Well, that's a pretty obscure reference, Gonzo, and I think the subsequent discussion proves that most of us have no clue what Aginor was talking about.

Let's be clear.

I don't mean to disagree. My only point is that I can't really respond to the quote from Brandon because there's really nothing in the books to make it clear what he's talking about?

An ancient power?

Okay, what is it? How does it work?

You just know we aren't going to get those answers and without we have to go off what we do know.

Whizbang

10-02-2012, 12:18 PM

The taint is only a skim of filth on top of the pure Saidin. Does the Wheel of Time have to reach through this filth the same way a man would? I don’t think so. Maybe the Wheel is actually on the other side, or deep down inside. Maybe it is between Saidar and Saidin. Who knows how the Saidin interacts with the Wheel? It is pretty apparent that the taint does not affect Saidin directly. It merely gets in the way when a man attempts to seize the source, and then between the weaves and reality (hence the darkening of the ways). The darkening of the Ways is unique for two reasons: It is a reality constructed by Saidin. It has been around for thousands of years, slowly absorbing the taint. Most weaves are over and done with looooong before the taint can affect the outcome.

Also, the wheel has been responding to the DO for quite some time (all of time, seemingly). Your argument that the DO is outside of reality and so the Wheel cannot account for it is a little… off, to me. The Creator made the Wheel of Time and the Pattern, presumably at the same time he caged the DO. He would have made the Wheel so that it could adapt to whatever the DO tries to do. There is evidence for this in the fact that Ta’avren are made/reincarnated simply to battle the DO. I would even go so far as to say that the Pattern IS the prison for the DO. The only way for the DO to be free is to destroy the Pattern. The hole in the DO’s prison is a hole in the Pattern. I dunno, maybe that is a stretch, since the DO and his minions are afraid to use Balefire, because of its effects on the Pattern. So, maybe that is going too far. Regardless, the Wheel seems able to adapt to the DO’s actions.

So, maybe the Pattern is tainted because Saidin is tainted, but this assumes that the Wheel of time interacts with Saidin the same way a man would. But the Wheel is not incapable of accounting for this taint.

Cabadrin

10-05-2012, 04:03 AM

TWOTWOT ch 1:
The only known forces outside the Wheel and the Pattern are the Creator, who shaped the Wheel, the One Power that drives it - as well as the plan for the Great Pattern - and the Dark One, who was imprisoned outside the pattern by the Creator at the moment of creation. No one inside and of the Pattern can destroy the Wheel or change the destiny of the Great Pattern. Even those who are ta'veren can only alter, but not completely change, the weave.

Interesting observation that the Ways have been affected because they use Saidin over a long time. I had been wondering if mayor constructs like the Choedan Kal would have to be made using purified Saidin, as in the Eye pool, but you are probably right, the Taint is not a problem here.

After the Bowl of the Winds used massive amounts of tainted Saidin together with Saidar female channelers became sick, probably because some Taint slipped into Saidar, but as far as we know only channelers were affected, there are no reports of mini-blights, for instance.